JonathanF - Slashdot User

Submission + - Verizon to allow "any app, any device" (electronista.com)

Submitted by

JonathanF

on Tuesday November 27, 2007 @10:16AM

JonathanF writes: "Looks like Verizon decided it was better to go with the flow and is opening up its network so that 'any' device or program can run on its cellular and Internet services. Of course, this being a major US carrier, they're not going to unlock their own cellphones — you'll have to roll with something you've bought separately instead. But at least Verizon will test devices to make sure they hold up. Hopefully this means that phones running Google Android will work on Verizon's network."

Submission + - ARM group teams up for Linux mobile standard (electronista.com)

Submitted by

JonathanF

on Wednesday October 03, 2007 @05:05PM

JonathanF writes: "Looks like Mozilla, Samsung, and a few other companies have had a love-in and will be making a new Linux handheld standard that will find its way into mobile media and Internet devices, since they've found it will work better for them than proprietary operating systems when it comes to getting chips on the market. Naturally, it should have an open-source license (GPL?) and will use GNOME Mobile for its UI plus Firefox for the gadgetry that needs a web browser. The OS as a whole should be done in just a few months and will turn up in something you can pick up at the store by early 2009."

Submission + - Judge: use P2P, you're stealing music (electronista.com) 1

Submitted by

JonathanF

on Monday August 27, 2007 @02:12PM

JonathanF writes: "If you were hoping judges would see reason and realize that just using a program that could violate copyright law was about as illegal as leaving your back door unlocked, think again: an Arizona district judge has ruled that a couple who hosted files in KaZaA is liable for over $40K in damages just because they "made available" songs that could have been pirated by someone, somewhere. There's legal precedent, but how long do we have before the BitTorrent crew is sued?"

Submission + - Lenovo intros ThinkPads with preloaded Linux (electronista.com)

Submitted by

JonathanF

on Monday August 06, 2007 @09:21AM

JonathanF writes: "Sounds like an ideal mix for Linux geeks: Lenovo said today that they'll ship their rock-steady ThinkPads near the end of the year with Novell's SUSE Linux distro preloaded — and supported by Lenovo itself. No word on specs, but having a solid PC with an open-source OS sounds very appealing. Like the author of the article, though, I wonder whether Lenovo is offering Novell's distro because it's worried about that Microsoft Sword of Damocles hanging over its head if it chose an alternative like Red Hat or Ubuntu."

Submission + - Deeper look at ProRes 422 video

Submitted by

JonathanF

on Wednesday April 18, 2007 @01:21PM

JonathanF writes: "AppleInsider decided to poke around the ProRes 422 video codec for Apple's Final Cut Studio 2 and seems to have found that Apple's move was as much a practical one as a way of selling more Macs — basically, that Apple was faced with limiting HD video editing to very expensive systems and that it needed a way of making the format work for everyday computers. I'm sure more than a few video gurus will be happy that their MacBook Pro will handle HD on a live video shoot now."

Submission + - Microsoft abandoning usual DRM for Zune?

Submitted by

JonathanF

on Friday September 15, 2006 @11:03PM

JonathanF writes: "Some sleuthing by Electronista has noticed a curious trait in Microsoft's Zune announcement on Thursday: every time format support comes up (such as in the official press release), there's no mention of anything relating to store formats. They only mention "unprotected MP3, AAC, and WMA" files — and the Zune Insider blog writer (from Microsoft!) implies that you can't import protected WMA, which you'd think Microsoft would rush to support. I don't think anyone would realistically expect Microsoft to champion the fight against DRM, but does this mean the Zune will not only use its own protected file format but keep Napster and company out altogether?"

Slashdot Top Deals